Revelation 10:5-11 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

‘And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth ‘

The mighty angel of Revelation 10 (Jesus) is standing on both the land and sea because it is his property.

‘lifted up his hand to heaven‘

It is okay for Bible believers to lift up our hands.

‘And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,’

This angel is swearing by God based on the fact that He has created the heavens, earth, the sea, and those things in them respectively and is eternal Himself.

‘that there should be time no longer‘

The verse also reveals what Jesus is proclaiming, that time is up for the Antichrist system.

‘But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,‘

We have to wait for the seventh angel to sound. This is happening in the middle of tribulation.

Verse 7 reveals the place in time where the previous things occur, which is before the sounding of the seventh trumpet or sometime in the middle of the Tribulation.

‘when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.‘

However, once this trumpet does sound, the mystery of God will be finished, which was revealed to God’s Old Testament prophets. The tribulation saints will know more than us, saved Christians because of the access to technology and knowledge. God will take care of them.

The mystery refers to the end times events that were not previously known (as not everything that will happen during these times is revealed in Scripture) which will be revealed and over. 1 Corinthians 13 also makes a mention of these mysteries.

1 Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

The number one topic mentioned in the Bible is the second advent of Jesus Christ, not salvation by grace through faith.

‘And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel‘

A voice from Heaven commands John to take the little book (which is open) from the hand of Jesus. Notice that the book is open at this time.

‘And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book.‘

John went to ask for the book.

‘And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.’

The angel says that once the book is eaten, it will give John a stomach ache but it will be sweet like honey, so it is pleasant to eat but difficult to digest.

‘And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.‘

John obeys Jesus and eats the book, describing the taste as sweet as honey but hurt his stomach once digested. To better understand the sensations of “bitter” and “sweet”, we have to look at Psalms 119 and Hebrews 4.

Hebrews 4 reveals to us that the word of God is sharp like a two-edged sword and cuts through joints and marrow (with an emphasis on its ability to cut through things) meaning that this description can be the reason why John feels pain in his stomach. The word is cutting the insides of John. When a preacher preaches, it’s supposed to hurt, it’s not supposed to be sweet.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In Psalms 119, King David describes God’s word as tasting sweeter than honey, so the word is sweet. There are times when we look to the word of God for comfort.

Psalms 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

‘And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.‘

John’s work is not yet finished but rather he has to now prophesy again only to everyone. Notice that it says many peoples, nations, and tongues.

Hyper-dispensationalists think that the 13 books from Romans to Philemon apply to us the Christian church and the rest of the Bible can be thrown out. The other books have a lot of Jewish flavor so they take this to an extreme and reject everything outside of the Pauline epistles.

They do not do double application – Christian church application, tribulation saints application. Try doing one application for either Christian church or tribulation saints and it’s not going to work out.